Generosity Scoot!

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As we enter the season of giving, we are learning about generosity in Swooper Citizens.  We defined generosity as “showing kindness by giving or sharing something with another person.”

First, we brainstormed ways we can give to other people.  Students thought of giving gifts, hugs, smiles, and experiences (like a hike!) to other people.  Next, we did a “scoot” game.  In this game, students worked in pairs to read cards hung all around the room. Each card contained a scenario which might or might not depict generosity. After reading each card, they answered, “Did this show generosity?” by circling “yes” or “no” on their note paper.

 

After we had completed the scoot, we regrouped to discuss some of the trickier scenarios.

Finally, we listened to this fun song about being generous.  We will be working extra hard to practice generosity this month!

Kindness, exemplified

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This morning during Tecolote Tuesday, we were treated to a visit from current Upper School student and former Lower School student, Rhami.  Rhami recently performed a fabulous act of kindness.  Watch below:

Way to go, Rhami! His act of kindness was featured on many news outlets, as well.  This visit fits right in with our studies of kindness in Swooper Citizens, which we continued today.  Our focus this week is on using our manners to show kindness.  Students played a “Four Corners” game in which they walked to a specific corner to show whether a scenario warranted the words, “Thank you,” “Please,” “You’re welcome,” or “Excuse me.”

Next, Mrs. Delwiche read the book, “Mary Louise Loses Her Manners” by Diane Cuneo. Here’s the description from Amazon:

One morning, after some particularly shocking–but awfully funny–breakfast behavior, Mary Louise realizes that she has lost her manners. I’ve paid so little attention to them, she thinks, that they’ve up and run away! She has no choice but to begin a search mission.

From a neighborhood restaurant to a doctor’s office, past a hot dog vendor then a street musician, and even into the library, Mary Louise tries to find her manners. Instead she ends up making more trouble everyplace she goes. Have her manners deserted her forever?

Already today, I’ve heard a huge increase in the number of “thank yous” and “pleases” from our first graders.  Be on the lookout at home for extra kind manners!

Swooper Citizens Begins!

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We had our first Swooper Citizens lesson of the year this morning!  First graders began learning about how to become “swooper” citizens (so named because of our school’s mascot, Swoop, the owl) last year in Kindergarten.  Each week, the first grade and Kindergarten classes come together to learn about a character trait.  This year, we are starting off with the important trait of kindness.

We began by discussing ways that others have shown kindness to us in the past and how it made us feel.  Students suggested experiences wherein friends shared, helped each other when one was hurt, and showed good sportsmanship by saying, “Good job!” at the end of a game.  We all agreed that we feel happy both when we show kindness and when kindness is shown to us.

Next, we watched this video, in which students of various ages share what kindness means to them:

Next, we read the book, “The Invisible Boy” by Trudy Ludwig.  Here’s a synopsis from Amazon:

A simple act of kindness can transform an invisible boy into a friend…

Meet Brian, the invisible boy. Nobody ever seems to notice him or think to include him in their group, game, or birthday party . . . until, that is, a new kid comes to class.

When Justin, the new boy, arrives, Brian is the first to make him feel welcome. And when Brian and Justin team up to work on a class project together, Brian finds a way to shine.

From esteemed author and speaker Trudy Ludwig and acclaimed illustrator Patrice Barton, this gentle story shows how small acts of kindness can help children feel included and allow them to flourish.

After a discussion about the acts of kindness in the book and their effects on its characters, we said goodbye to our Kindergarten friends and returned to our classroom.

We will be keeping a journal of each character trait we discuss.  First, we agree on a definition of that trait.  Then, each student creates an illustration showing that trait and writes one example of how it can be demonstrated.  The students did a wonderful job of thinking of ways to show kindness every day!

“If someone is sick, you could take care of them.”

“Sharing”

“I am sharing.”

Mindfulness

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We had a special treat this week during Swooper Citizens in the form of a visit from author Annie Ranger.  Ms. Ranger has written a book called Mindful Owl Adventures – a perfect tie-in to our Swooper Citizens study of “peacefulness” and our school mascot!

Here is some more information about Ms. Ranger:

Annie Ranger is certified in Mindfulness for Children and Reiki.   She has worked for Teen Magazine and, in addition to the Mindful Owl Adventures, has written a number of training manuals. Annie has a degree from UCLA and studied Mindfulness at the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and is currently a K-4th grade substitute teacher. She lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband, two grown children, and their dog.

We began by discussing what it means to be mindful (being present with kindness and no judgment.) Some students had great ideas already about how to practice mindfulness, such as “If you’re angry, take a deep breath.”  Ms. Ranger had a handy visual aid to help us remember some steps we can take when we need to calm our minds and bodies before we take our next action:

We took some deep breaths together to relax.

Then, we listened to Mindful Owl Adventures.  Here’s a description of this interactive book from the publisher’s website: “The reader participates in the story of siblings, Alexa and Chester, and their amazing adventure with the mindful owl to meet animal friends. During their journey, the children learn about many animals, while the Owl teaches them (and the Reader) about mindfulness – how to breathe in and breathe out, to stay present and aware, to be sharing, loving, compassionate, kind, and mindful of others so everyone can get along together.”

Ms. Ranger also brought along some mindfulness jars.  You can make these handy jars to watch while focusing on your breathing.  Here are the easy instructions:

Fill a glass or plastic jar with 80% water and 20% clear gel glue almost to the top.  Add glitter as desired.  Tightly screw on the top. Turn the bottle over and watch the glitter settle as you focus on your breathing.

You can remind your child to practice mindfulness and take 3 deep breaths whenever they need to clear their minds and be still.

Fairness

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This poster hangs in our classroom.

A few years ago, our Kindergarten teacher and I collaborated to create a two year citizenship program for Kindergarten and first grade students.  We named the program “Swooper Citizens” in honor of our school mascot, Swoop, who is an owl.  Each week, we gather our students together for a focused lesson on a citizenship trait.  So far this year, we have covered cooperation, courtesy, patience, confidence, and now this week, fairness. To read Mrs. Delwiche’s posts about some of our past lessons, click these links:

Cooperation

Patience

Confidence

To introduce the concept of fairness, we first asked the students, “What is the best way to share a cookie with one friend?”  Students offered ideas such as just giving the cookie to their friend, buying another cookie,  or splitting the cookie in half.

I then told the students that because they have been such great students this year, Mrs. Delwiche and I had decided to give each student a sticker.  I began passing out a bright yellow happy face sticker to each student, but then, OOPS! I ran out!  Three students were left without stickers!

I asked the group if that seemed fair.  They agreed that it wasn’t fair because everyone else had gotten a sticker.  I then asked what would make it fair.  This was where I was totally caught off guard.  I fully expected students to suggest that I simply go get more stickers, but instead, several students immediately stood up and offered their stickers to the students who didn’t get them!  This display of generosity and selflessness gave me chills.  This is the fifth class I’ve used this lesson with, and I’ve never had students offer to give up their own “prize” completely.  Way to go, students!

Giving a sticker away

Once I was able to gather my thoughts, I revealed to the students that I actually had three more stickers in my other pocket, so everyone was able to have one.  We then talked about why I should give everyone a sticker, and settled on “Everyone gets treated the same” as our definition of fairness.

For now.

Next, I asked the students to close their eyes and think of a time when they got hurt.  I asked them to remember what they were doing when it happened and what part of them was injured.  Then I asked them to really focus in on what it felt like before they opened their eyes.

I called on a student to come up and share about a time he was hurt.  After he shared about a skinned knee, I gave him a bandaid “to help his hurt knee.”  I called on other students to come up and share.  We heard about bumped foreheads, scraped elbows, and twisted ankles.  Each time, I gave the student a bandaid on his or her knee to help.  Several students said, “But Mrs. Vanetti, my hurt was on my face/elbow/ankle!”  And I simply responded, “Yes, I heard.  I’m so sorry you got hurt!”

Pointing to our “injuries”

Finally, someone said, “Why do you keep giving everyone a bandaid on their knee, if that’s not where everyone got hurt?” I responded that we were learning about fairness and we had just said that being fair meant that everyone got the same treatment.  Since I had given the first person a bandaid on their knee, I wanted to be fair and treat everyone the same.

“But it’s still not fair.  I don’t need a bandaid on my knee!”

Perfect.  This launched a great conversation where we decided that maybe sometimes fairness isn’t about getting the same thing.  We decided that often, the true definition of fairness means everyone gets what they need.  We talked about ways we see this at school, including how first graders study different spelling words or read different books.  (We also gave some silly examples such as if one person needed to use the restroom and the teacher made everyone go even if they didn’t need to.)

The students gave some great examples of both definitions of fairness.

“If you need a bandaid in different spots you should get it in that spot.”

“Sharing a cookie with a friend”

“Not cutting in line”

Next week, we will continue with the important concept of forgiveness!

Sneaky Learning

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At the end of each week, we celebrate our hard work with Choice Time.  During this time, I offer various activities from which students can choose.  They think it’s really fun and look forward to the opportunity all week long.

Students move their names on the smartboard to select an activity.

Stickers and stamps station ready to go

What they don’t realize is, teachers can be sneaky!  Yes, choice time is fun, but it’s also a way to practice a multitude of first grade skills!  We work on our fine motor and creative skills by playing with beads, stickers, and play dough.  We practice spelling and writing by using letter stamps or writing in our journals.  We experiment with engineering by building with blocks and felt kits. We practice reading comprehension with our listening center.  I change the activities weekly and add new activities based upon what we are learning.

Starting a new perler bead design

A red Play-Doh snake and a green Play-Doh dinosaur

The beginning of a really tall tower

Beyond these specific academic and physical skills, choice time gives students the chance to practice their social and collaborative skills.  They must share materials and space.  They work together to build block towers or follow along in a book at the listening center.  While I am closely supervising, this is a great opportunity for students to work on communicating and compromising with each other.  There are also opportunities to practice grit and perseverance while working to calmly re-build blocks that have been knocked over or perler bead designs that have been spilled on their way to be fused.

A student calmly rebuilds a rainbow bead design after part of it was spilled

Sharing a story in the listening center

Combining ideas to make one giant construction

During our choice time today, I noticed that the students were regularly checking in and praising one another. I heard lots of “That’s gorgeous!” and “I like your design!” from students working with perler beads.  Kind words were exchanged between block builders as they planned how to combine their ideas.

Perler bead designs in progress

Perler bead designs in progress

I love choice time because I get to see the students practice independence, collaboration, and creativity.  Monitoring which activities they choose helps me understand the interests of each child and generates conversation. Also, it’s fun!